A Russian citizen was charged with using his cryptocurrency company Evita to violate U.S. sanctions by funneling over $500 million in overseas payments through U.S. banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a 22-count indictment unsealed by DOJ on June 9. Iurii Gugnin, a resident of New York and a Russian citizen, was charged with wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, among other charges.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said June 10 that Congress should take up a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill to spur Moscow to reach a peace deal with Ukraine.
The EU this week proposed another round of sanctions against Russia, including lowering the global price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $45 per barrel. The bloc also wants to sanction more vessels transporting Russian oil, designate Chinese companies sending dual-use goods to Russia, and introduce more financial restrictions.
The Trump administration has no plans to ease existing sanctions on Russia while it seeks a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a State Department nominee told a Senate panel June 10.
Trade enforcement under President Donald Trump could "look a little different" than how the federal government has previously acted because of how the DOJ seems now to want to focus on holding individuals accountable, as opposed to corporations, according to a trade lawyer speaking during a June 6 webinar hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center.
EU member states, along with the bloc's Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, met in Lithuania last week to discuss ways to strengthen export enforcement of dual-use goods sent to Russia, Lithuania's customs office said. The countries said they want to better "identify organized criminal groups and prevent illegal profit-making," and they also discussed ways to more "promptly" share information about how bad actors are evading sanctions, the notice said, according to an unofficial translation. They specifically examined sanctions evasion methods in the Baltic Sea region. The meeting featured customs and law enforcement representatives from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
The U.S. should be prepared to reimpose sanctions on Syria if the country’s new government does not head in the right direction, a researcher told a congressional panel June 5.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's recently issued advanced chip guidance appears to raise compliance expectations for industry, especially for banks and forwarders that may be indirectly or inadvertently violating export controls on China, lawyers said.
Countries should “redouble” efforts to prevent sanctions violations involving North Korea, including “through enhanced screening and more stringent export control measures,” the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team said in a recent report. The MSMT, the group formed last year by the U.S. and 10 of its close allies to report on North Korea-related sanctions evasion (see 2502210005), also called for scrutiny of cargo ships that may be transferring petroleum to or on behalf of North Korea, adding that member states should share lists of any vessels suspected of delivering oil to North Korea. The 30-page report also includes details about arms transfers between North Korea and Russia.
Incoterms, the rules that define the responsibilities of sellers and buyers in shipping contracts, don’t relieve shippers from their sanctions compliance obligations or modify sanctions-related requirements “in any way,” the European Commission said in recent guidance.